Thursday, June 26, 2008

Sometimes I feel all superior (Why? I have no idea) that I do everything myself with my two little hands. I print each print and cut each card. But in reality, doing it all yourself is slow, and for most things, doesn't really matter to most people. Even on Etsy, which is supposed to be handmade goods heaven, the people buy professionally printed stuff like mad.

Anyway, I say this because I am having something printed. I never have stuff printed. I have tried in the past and got crappy results, which soured me. I am also a control freak, and dread terrible results and having to argue about it with someone else. Um, how do I say this without being really unlikeable? People are annoying and no one does anything right but me. Its not a big deal at all, its just a big deal to me. If I get these, and they are up to my standards that might open the door to me going printing crazy. This is my test.

Even though I do everything myself now, I want someone else to do everything in the future.

Ok, it may be quiet for a bit,because its Canada Day Weekend!!Visiting,driving,shopping,eating,drinking,fighting,laughing,recovering. Repeat. We are on our way to Mindless Self Indulgence/The Birthday Massacre show too. I may not survive the weekend. :-)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Often, when I am not feeling super creative, or maybe even frustrated, I will go into production mode.

Its nice to just not have to think of anything fantastic, or interesting or creative and just "do work." I needed to replenish my pin set supply, so I got on it. Its a good rainy day project anyway.First, I print out all the pins I need. I make sheets of pins in Photoshop. Then its time to cut and cut and cut them out... Maybe a couple of hundred? When the images are ready, its time to assemble the pins. Each little pin takes 5 separate pieces. Here is my little set up. Ok, its my set up before it got super messy. Ok, Ok, its before I started doing ANYTHING. The button press has a handle you pull in twice to set different parts of the button. Its the kind of mindless task you can do while watching tv. After making thousands of pins, you just robotically put the pieces into the press and before you know it you are finished.And here is a TON of buttons waiting for their pin backs. I love when I have a big huge pile of buttons, its like when people in movies throw money in the air and clutch it in joy. I just get button joy. I promise I don't clutch or throw them. Much.And then they all get their respective backing cards, which I didn't think I needed a photo of. It would be a picture of a printer anyway. I just print sheets of them and carefully cut them out.

It doesn't seem like inventory much when its in a box, but there are tons of sets in there. I also make little bags of completed pins and print more backing cards as I need them.

So now I am restocked with pin sets, and yesterday I restocked my ACEO's. Maybe I will do a photo post about ACEO assembly too! Ok, now I am just LOOKING for busy work... :-)

Friday, June 13, 2008

I received my little gift from my dude, which was wrapped in a super deceiving way.

Little fatty iPod. aww.

He gave me a little gift bag with junk food in it. The iPod was hidden in a litte chip bag which he had sealed really well so it looked unopened. Until I picked it up I didn't even know. I was like "chips???" haw haw.

So this little guy replaces my *much* loved last pink iPod, which still works but after years of constant recharging, is loosing its will to live.The old one lived though a lot. It deserves props.-being dropped on the concrete floor of the stockroom I used to work in (three times at least) I would sneak it in. Whahaha! Big dents on corners, but works like a charm.-chocolate smushed into the click wheel by a dude who will remain nameless at a birthday party.-stepped on once, made a mark on screen that remains black all the time. Poor little fella.

It seems I am hard on my things, but in reality, this little iPod just lives near the door and at the bottom of a purse and has a rough life. I think its actually really amazing it can withstand it all.

But the new one rocks my freaking socks. I loaded it up with 1500 songs and videos of drunk people at parties and rocko meowing, and pics of my family and junk and stuff.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

I have had websites since I was in highschool. But in all the years from then until now, I haven't actually gotten better at building them.

Its kind of a necessary evil, so I make them. But I am basically unable to care about stuff I suck at. Its a personality flaw. So they come out pretty basic.

My new one isn't finished yet. Its coming. Soon. Hopefully?You can tell by the pressure of my furious pencil scribbling how frustrating I find the whole thing. These comics make laugh. Laugh that I put crap like this low quality comic on the interwebs.

Here is a little sneak peek at a new website graphic...I decided to ditch my "super clean digital" look that for some reason I had associated with a "real" website. Who knows why I thought that would represent my work. I splatter. There should be splatter!

I redid my banner for my Etsy shop too. I wish the banner was a bit bigger. I tried like 50 different layouts, but none could fit Batcat's ears in unless he was horizontal.Ok, that uploaded really tiny, but you want to go to the shop anyway to see the larger one... (I am a marketing genius.)

So off to make more website content. *drags feet like a five year old*

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

11 years (!) after their last studio album was released, Portishead have returned with an album that is dark and obscure, an often jarring listen. It is also pretty damn fantastic. This is powerful, intimate music that really asks to be listened to on its own terms - while the trip-hop sound that Portishead helped to popularize became watered down by subsequent followers into inoffensive, background 'chillout' music (Morcheeba, anyone?), "Third" is more tense than even Portishead's previous works. The first few tracks recall the retro-cinema vibe of much of their first two albums, but the band soon move into weirder, more personal territory. 'Nylon Smile' rolls along with a hand-drum rhythm, 'The Rip' is morose and pretty with an acoustic guitar backing up Beth Gibbons (until analog synths and drums wash in halfway through), while 'Magic Doors' is almost defiant. My favourite track, though, is the aptly-named 'Machine Gun' which features a back-breaking drum loop. And of course this should be a given, but it bears saying that Beth Gibbons' vocals are the star of the show on this album. Highly recommended (just don't put it on at a party).-N. Zombie

N. Zombie will be reviewing only zombie approved awesome albums weekly, to brighten your dreary existence. Or the opposite. Or whatever. :-)